Political Quotes

“I rise on this historic day in strong support of the Health Care and Education Affordability Reconciliation Act of 2010, H.R. 4872. Let me be perfectly clear: all Americans should have access to affordable and quality health-care coverage. For too long, drastically needed health-insurance reform has been delayed. I'm proud that the overdue reform of our health-care insurance system has finally begun. Many of us, including Members of Congress, enjoy excellent health-care coverage. But far too many people have inadequate coverage, including over 70,000 of my constituents who are completely uninsured. And for those of us with coverage, the status quo is unsustainable and costly: Without health insurance reform, the insurance premium for an average family is expected to rise from $13,000 today to $24,000 in less than a decade. Mr. Speaker, my constituents want reduced costs, more choices and expanded coverage. I support this landmark legislation because it changes the way that insurance companies currently ration medical care: The legislation we are about to pass would require all plans to eliminate coverage denials because of pre-existing conditions, eliminate dropping coverage when individuals become sick, eliminate annual and lifetime caps on how much can be spent on care, and eliminate exorbitant out-of-pocket expenses. Opponents of this bill would rather have the big health-insurance companies dictate the rules.”